Lena Dunham: "I Was a Chubby Teenager" Who "Didn't Have Friends"

In the latest issue of V Magazine (on stands Jan. 10), the 26-year-old speaks candidly about her lonely upbringing in New York City. (Dunham was raised by her father, Carroll, a painter, and her mother, Laurie, a photographer.)

"From kindergarten onward, I was like, 'I don't know what to do with people.' First I was a tiny little kid and I didn't have friends. And then I was a chubby teenager and I didn't have friends. It was just this sensation that I didn't know how to connect," the four-time Emmy Award nominee explains. "I think we can all agree with the idea that the beautiful girls that get all the boys get written about. They don't usually write."

Dunham isn't looking for sympathy, however. In fact, she credits those tough times for inspiring her critically-acclaimed work. "So much of my worldview was formed by feeling isolated," she reasons.

In fact, Dunham relishes in the fact that she's unlike her Hollywood peers. "Meeting actresses who such a big part of their job is about what they look like, I feel so lucky to be freed from that prison. I ate cake for breakfast on the day of the Emmys I ate cake for dinner, my workout didn't require Spanx, and I still feel like I looked better than people expected me to. It was amazing," the young director tells V Magazine. "I could feel the envy of every woman in the Sunset Tower."

There are other perks to being on an edgy TV show, Dunham notes. "They actually send [free clothes] to me in my size. No one is being an a--hole and sending them to me in a size 4. They are sending me clothes, they fit, and what people should know is that I always wear them," the star admits. "Somehow even if I would not have bought it, the fact that it was free and my grandma's depression-era mentality make me think it's the most beautiful piece I have ever owned, and I wear it for several days straight."